Fresh from half a year of playing shows in the US, it’s safe to say Ninajirachi is making waves, and her latest EP ‘4×4’ is no exception.
The 5 track EP titled ‘4×4’ dropped recently showing off some serious club tunes that Nina has been cooking up while abroad. Off the back of her collab with US bass powerhouse ISOxo, we caught up for a quick chat about how the EP came together and the journey it took…
What was the personal journey behind the ‘4×4’ EP for you?
Making this EP was for real the most fun I’ve had making music since pre covid. I didn’t take it very seriously and there was nothing very deep about it. Up until this year I hadn’t released a song with a four to the floor rhythm in sooooooo long, which was totally not a conscious decision, and also pretty weird, since some of my most successful releases in the past have been 4×4 style dance music. After I had that realisation and made ‘1×1’ with Ravenna in late 2022, I thought it would be funny if ‘1×1’ was track 1 on an EP called ‘4×4’, made up of 4x 4×4 songs.
That’s a great concept too, basing an EP off of rhythmic ideas you wanted to re-explore! How did the production come together when making these records?
All of these songs were made in just a few hours and then polished off in the weeks following. I didn’t lament over them like I have with other music in the past and that’s probably why it felt so much more fun and easy. I was back and forth from America playing shows all year and it was really helpful being able to play the songs out and then make slight adjustments based on how they fit into my sets. For example, I played the v1 of Wayside at a show in New York in September, and then completely changed the horizontal arrangement based on how it performed. I’m glad I had that opportunity because the song is so much better for it.
Road-testing the tunes in the US must have been an exhilarating experience. How did the songwriting aspect of ‘4×4’ go while on tour?
The song ‘Kota on the plane’ was literally written with Kota Banks on a flight together from Sydney to Hobart in 2021. The original version was just a short loop and it was much slower. I rediscovered it just a few months ago and made the version that’s out now. I really think Kota and I could write a song together anywhere.
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Free download the Vocal Magic fx rack by Ninajirachi here!
